The Transformer range is back to take on the iPad

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The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity comes running Android 4.0 out of the box. No word yet on when we can expect a Jelly Bean update, but in all likelihood it should arrive in the next couple of months.

The good news is that Asus has left Google's operating system more or less alone, and the Infinity runs better as a result.

There are a couple of extras thrown in for good measure. For example, the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity boots up with the custom tree-themed Asus wallpaper. You get several variations of this picture slotted in among the rather bland, standard ICS wallpapers.

There are also several exclusive widgets to take advantage of, from relatively generic options such as Asus E-Mail and Asus Weather to generally useful widgets such as Asus Battery and Asus Task Manager.

Extra widgets might not be the deciding vote on which tablet you opt for, but these are well designed and informative extras that act as the cherry on top of the Ice Cream Sandwich, enabling you to further customise the five available home screens.

Asus has made the Transformer Pad Infinity a blank canvas for you to download apps and widgets from the Google Play store and customise it any way you want.

Just press and hold to place your desired app on the home screen. Because this is ICS, you can also drop apps into folders to catalogue your programs and save space.

In its native state, the operating system on the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity is incredibly swift. Transitions between menu screens, apps or home screens are about the smoothest we've seen on an Android tablet.

Because Asus has loaded the Transformer Pad Infinity with a Tegra 3 processor, a shortcut to the Nvidia TegraZone is automatically placed on the home screen. This takes you to Nvidia's online portal of gaming titles designed specifically to showcase the Tegra 3's prowess.

The Glowball demo, specifically, is designed to show off Tegra 3's capabilities, and running it on the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity was a lesson in how tablets can be used for gaming.

The on-screen Asus keyboard is well sized and a different design to Google's own. However, it can't compete with physical keys, so there's very little reason to use it in place of the keyboard dock.